No, He's Not
by Lissaone
Summary: Every parent likes to imagine their child is going to be perfect.  What happens when that child is not? Epilogue Compliant- One Shot


**Just thought this would be an interesting story to write. Parents always dream that their children will turn out exactly as planned. What would happen if their children didn't? Please review :) **

**I do not own Harry Potter.**

_Pre Epilogue_

"Hermione, do you think...is it possible…" My husband stopped talking as our only son and younger child, Hugo, fell off the toy broomstick in the yard of our country home.

"No, he's not." I said it firmly and went back inside the house. I didn't even give Ron the chance to finish asking the question that I, myself, wanted to ask.

Could Hugo be a squib?

* * *

"Rose! Put your brother down!" I yelled, again.

My daughter looked at me with a guilty look on her face. She had her father's eyes and my frizzy hair. I had tried to tame it with two braids, but her hard play had loose strands escaping their bonds.

Hugo, my poor four year old, ran to me and demanded to be picked up. I held him in my arms and soothed him.

"I did it yesterday with Roxy and she bounced." She was at the top of the stairwell. I gave my daughter the sternest look I could muster.

"Uncle George will have your head if he knew you bounced his daughter down the stairs. You will not bounce Hugo down the stairs." I reiterated. My seven year old looked at me with a matching expression.

"You don't want me to bounce him because…"

"That's enough!" Ron shouted. It was rare for him to step in, but we both knew what was going to come out of her mouth, what our family was now starting to say about our boy.

"Go to your room, Rose." Ron and I looked at each other, hopeless looks on our faces as we parted ways.

"He's not." I whispered to my son and husband.

* * *

I didn't want Ron to touch me. It had been our plan to have one more child after Hugo, but I didn't want my husband.

The feeling was foreign because I had _always _wanted him. Even on those terrible nights when we were searching for the Horcruxes.

"Hermione, if he is…" Ron cut off as he lay next to me.

"Don't say that!" I sat up quickly and brought my arms around my knees. "He's not."

"Hermione." Ron drew me to him but I pushed him away.

"I don't want to talk about it." I lay back down and turned away from him. Even during all our fights, I'd never done so before.

"He's not."

* * *

"Mummy, Roxy gets to go to primary, why can't I?" Hugo looked at me as I was teaching him his letters. He was talking about the wizarding primary started by working wizarding families who did not want to send their children to muggle primary. "I thought you liked being home with Mummy, love?"

"I do, but _I _want to go to primary, too." He pleaded. "Roxy says they get to play with other wizards and witches. Lily goes there, too."

I paused and studied my son who had my eyes but my husbands bright red hair. He was six, going to be seven, and still there was no sign of magic from him. It tore at me, knowing that he would probably never show magic.

It wasn't that I was sad for me, yes I had hoped to have an all magical family with Ron, but I was sad for him because he would never fully fit into our world. His world and my world would be different from one another, just as mine was from my parents. At least he'd have my parents.

But, I reminded myself, Hugo is not a Squib.

"Do you think we should sign Hugo up for the Muggle Primary?" I asked Ron that night as we were getting ready for bed. I hadn't brought it up before.

Ron went still for a while before crossing to me. He hesitated before putting his arms around me and that hurt. Had I made him wary of showing his affection to me? It used to be that he could never keep his hands from me, but now he almost asked permission before he even took my hand.

I didn't want him to be wary anymore, I wanted him to hold me, touch me, reaffirm what we had once had as a couple. As husband and wife.

"It would be best, I think." He pulled me into his body and I snuggled close, relishing the feel of him.

"I'm sorry." I said quietly.

"For what?" He pulled away.

"For pushing you away from me." I looked up at him. "I'm sorry, I know you're hurting, too. It was probably me that caused it. I'm descended from squibs. It's where muggle-borns are thought to originate."

"Hermione, it doesn't matter." He said. "We still love him, don't we, he's still our little boy?"

"Oh yes." I said vehemently. "No matter what." I knew we would love him, Weasley's stuck by their own. But I remember one time Ron mentioning something about a cousin who was a squib that he was embarrassed to talk about. Would my nieces and nephews be embarrassed to talk about their squib-cousin Hugo?

Ron and I sprang apart as the explosion rocked our house. We both reached for our wands on the nightstand and headed for our children.

"I'm sorry, Daddy!" Rose flew across the room. "Teddy told me the story of _The Hairy Heart _and I had a nightmare. I thought someone was going to cut my heart out. I wanted him to get away from me so, so I blasted him."

"What did you blast him with?" How was it fair that this ten-year-old could do such magic when our seven-year-old could do nothing?

"I said _Confringo_ in my dream." She said. "I must have said it out loud." Rose looked at me. "Isn't that right, Mummy, that's what I read." "That's right." I nodded and stared in amazement at my daughter.

"When did Teddy tell you about the Hairy Heart?" Ron asked, he picked her up and laid her back down in her bed. He sat on the edge.

"At Grandma and Grandad's." She answered with a yawn. "We were waiting for Albus' Hogwarts letter to come and that's when he told us. He also told us that sometimes owls get lost and kids never get their Hogwarts letter."

"That's not a true story." He stroked her hair, "he was trying to scare you. Plus, you already have your Hogwarts letter, haven't you?" "Yes, Mummy's going to take us Diagon Alley tomorrow to shop!" She said and looked at me, happily. "Right?" "Right." I nodded and slipped out of the room. Hugo was there looking wide-eyed at the mess. I repaired the damage and he watched me, his brown eyes sullen.

"I can't do magic, Mummy, I've tried. I don't have magic in me." He turned and walked to his bedroom.

* * *

Maybe, maybe Hugo was a squib.

_Dear Mum,_

_Today Professor McGonagall said something quite peculiar and I was wondering what she meant by it. _

_Al and I were walking down the hall when we saw a first-year being picked on by Scorpius Malfoy, (what a perfectly odious boy.) I disarmed him, but Al had to go ahead and put a bat-bogey hex on him. (It was rather magnificent, Aunt Ginny would have been proud). _

_Professor McGonagall happened to be walking by and pulled us into her office after taking 10 points from Slytherin and Gryffindor! Anyway, as she was __running her mouth __ lecturing us, she made a point saying "Rose Weasley, you've the ability to be at least as good a witch as your mother." I nodded as was expected but then she said, "We can only hope your brother has half your talent. If he does and he has your father's mischievousness too, then we're in trouble." _

_And then, I'm sorry Mum, it just came out, I said "But Hugo's not magical at all." Professor McGonagall looked shocked. She pursed her lips and walked away. She's never done that before. _

_What does she mean by that? She seemed surprised. Does that mean Hugo's not a...well...you know? I still love him, it's just that, it would be so great if he were magical, wouldn't it? Everyone expects Hugo to come to Hogwarts, it's not the first time a professor has mentioned him. But, then again, it is just expected, with you two as his parents._

_I love you both, tell Daddy I say hi and Hugo that I love him, too._

_Rose_

I stared at the letter in shock. Rose was at the middle of her third year, Hugo should be getting his letter in August. He hadn't said anything to us about it. I think he knows that none of us expect him to get one.

I had to share this with Ron. Professor McGonagall seemed to be expecting my baby at Hogwarts.

Maybe just maybe, he's not.

* * *

"I don't want to go to school anymore." Hugo stood at the top of the stairs. His hair was a disheveled. We had sent him to the Wizarding Primary in London because we didn't want him left out.

"Why not?" I knew why not, though. His magic still hadn't manifested itself...if it ever would. We just assumed that McGonagall's assumption was just that. We were Weasleys, all our children would be magical.

"I'm a squib." He said quietly. He sat down on the stool in the kitchen and I put a bowl of cereal in front of him. "You and dad can stop whispering about it. Everyone knows. I'd rather go to the Muggle School, make friends there so when Lily and Roxy go to Hogwarts I'll have friends. Muggle friends."

"Oh baby." I didn't know what to say to that comment. It was true, at almost eleven there would have been some sign that he was magical.

There hadn't been.

"You'll finish out the year here, then we'll send you to muggle school." I conceded. It was what Ron and I had decided at the beginning of the school year.

"No." He looked up, defiant. "I don't want to listen to everyone talk about going to Hogwarts next year. I know I'm not going to go, and I don't want to pretend. I don't belong with you! I want to go live with Nana and Papa Granger! I'm normal with them!" It was true. We had considered sending him off to school near my parents where he could be just a muggle. But, if he didn't go to Hogwarts, he would be with us, as normal teenagers were. Normal _muggle _teenagers, anyway.

"I don't want to go to school." He said furiously. "I don't want my cereal and I don't want you to tell me it's going to be OK." His cereal bowl slid across the counter and onto the floor, the kitchen door slammed shut and my voice went off.

We stared at each other because neither of us had moved. Neither of us had thrown the bowl, or slammed the door, and I most certainly didn't silence myself.

After I ended his silencing charm, I walked over to him.

"What did that feel like?" I asked cautiously.

"I don't know. I was so mad and I couldn't control it." He said. "My emotions were…" He stopped and looked at me. "Mummy, did I just do magic?"

"I...I think you did." I was cautious, didn't want to get him excited. "Hugo, I want you to think hard, really hard and get the bowl off the floor."

"I can't."

"Hugo, now!" I nearly yelled at him and immediately the bowl was off the floor and onto the counter.

"Oh Merlin" I whispered and hugged him.

* * *

I watched Hugo's hands shake as he opened the letter I had so carefully resealed after opening it first. I had to make sure it would be the news he needed to hear so badly.

_HOGWARTS SCHOOL_

_of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY _

_Headmistress: Minerva McGonagall_

_Dear Mr. Weasley,_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment._

_Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31._

_Yours sincerely, _

_Professor Flitwick_

_Deputy Headmaster_

"I'm going to Hogwarts, Mum and Dad!" He said there were tears glistening in his eyes. "I'm going."

* * *

The night before Hugo was to go, he crawled into bed with Ron and I. He hadn't done that since he was a toddler.

"Hugo, back to your bed." Ron said without even looking up.

"Dad…" He whined. He snuggled into me, hoping I'd side with him. "Mummy."

"Hugo, what's wrong?" I knew what as wrong with him, he was nervous.

"What if I'm not any good?" He said, sitting up. "I just starting showing magic two months ago." And he did show magic. It was like it was contained for so long it was literally bursting from his fingers. The wandmaker was beside herself when Hugo blasted through her shop.

"You're going to be great because your mother is Hermione Weasley. You haven't a choice." Ron said irritably. "Now go back to bed."

Knowing he was fighting a losing battle, he slipped from the bed and stopped at the door.

"I'm glad you can love now, because I'm not a squib." He said softly.

"Excuse me?" Ron sat up in bed faster than what I processed to have come out of my son's mouth. "Get over here, right now and explain what you mean."

Hugo slumped over to the bed.

"I only mean, you don't have to be embarrassed about me now. Rose doesn't either. I thought I was a squib that I would never really be a Weasley."

"Hugo, we love you for who you are. We want you to have magic yes, but not so we'll love you. It's because it's a family legacy that we want to pass down to you and share with you. It has nothing to do with whether or not we love you."

He just nodded.

"Do you understand what Daddy's saying?" I asked. "We love who you are, Hugo, not your magic."

"I was always so scared because I thought you wouldn't love me if I didn't have magic. I know it's foolish, but, it's what I thought."

"It is foolish, baby." I hugged him. "Daddy and I love you, so very much and we are so very proud of you." With that he walked back to his own room.

"Our son isn't a squib." Ron said, as if he was just now starting to believe it.

"No," I hugged him. "He's not."

**For Reference: A Squib is a non-magical person born to at least one magical person. It does not necessarily have to be two purebloods. **


End file.
